Microsoft is possibly in discussions to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to more platforms, according to a newly surfaced industry rumor. The feature, formerly known as xCloud and effectively tied to Xbox Game Pass, had its last major expansion in late 2022, when select Samsung TVs started supporting Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Microsoft has been touting cloud gaming as the future of gaming for years now, but its technology has yet to prove its mettle in the mainstream. The on-demand, cross-platform game library with no install times boasted by Xbox Cloud Gaming does offer immense mobility, but only for those who have a lot of bandwidth and modest performance expectations. As things stand in 2023, that's still not a large demographic.
Regardless, Microsoft apparently remains eager to bring its streaming solution to more platforms. In one of its latest filings with the CMA, Microsoft highlighted its recent 10-year agreement with Nvidia to bring Xbox PC games to GeForce Now as the kind of streaming collaborations it's hoping to nurture moving forward. A newly shared excerpt from the filing mentions Steam and Epic Games Store as examples of platforms that could also access the Xbox Cloud Gaming catalog in the future, before revealing that Microsoft is currently in some sort of presumably related—but also redacted—discussions.
The notion of Xbox Cloud Gaming coming to more storefronts raises some interesting possibilities, not least because the streaming platform is effectively tied to Microsoft's subscription service, Xbox Game Pass. Playing anything but the free-to-play favorite Fortnite via Xbox Cloud Gaming requires a Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which starts at $14.99 per month. If Microsoft is truly open to bringing its streaming catalog to Steam and Epic Games Store, such a move might also usher in the arrival of its flagship subscription service to these storefronts.
The obvious advantage of having Xbox Game Pass sold through more channels is the potential to boost its overall growth. Another possible benefit concerns Valve, whose Steam Deck is in dire need of a dedicated Xbox Game Pass app. While the company's handheld is already capable of accessing the Game Pass catalog, doing so requires either a dual-booting system configuration with Windows or streaming games using a Chromium-based browser like Edge or Chrome. While streaming might sound like the easier option, getting it to work right now isn't particularly user-friendly, and the idea seems even less compelling when faced with the possibility that official Xbox Cloud Gaming support is on the horizon.
Sources: CMA (PDF), Idas/Resetera